Robin Burks's Blog, page 15

Happy 2013, Everyone!

I hope that everyone had a happy and safe New Year’s Eve last night. I was just like to say Happy New Year to you all and thank you for making my journey in 2012 a great one. Thanks to everyone who bought Zeus, Inc. and to everyone who has reviewed it!

Also, thank you for encouraging me to continue with the story. As of today, I am starting re-writes on The Curse of Hekate and I could not be more excited. I took a month off after NaNoWriMo to clear my head and do nothing but take notes about the story and things I need to work on and I feel it will be a stronger novel because of all that time I put into just that.

However, I am still wanting to work on The Book of Revelations. I’ve taken notes here and there for that, so I’ll get back to it once Curse is completed. Those characters are begging me to let them out of the closet I put them in.

So what does 2013 hold in store for me? Well, for starters, in February, there is the annual Gallifrey One convention in Los Angeles. It’s a huge gathering of Doctor Who fans and is almost a lot of fun for me. It’s also an opportunity to hand out cards to continue to promote Zeus, Inc.

Yesterday, I applied for a press pass (via RantGaming and FanGirlConfessions) for Geek Girl Con, to be held in Seattle in October. I plan on flying up early and spending a few days in Seattle (as I have several friends there) and then taking the train from Seattle to Vancouver to spend time with yet another friend. Both are places I’ve always wanted to visit, so I decided to stay in the country this year (well, technically, Vancouver is in Canada, so that’s still a new stamp for my passport). I’ve begun to make some tentative plans for that trip, but as I’ve already earned the miles on my AAdvantage account for it, it’s pretty much a done deal.

So far, 2013 is looking good. I hope that you, too, have many wonderful things to look forward to this year. And if you don’t, MAKE wonderful things to look forward to. To quote a tweet that I saw yesterday (from James Moran, who always has a way of summing things up perfectly):

Whatever you do in 2013, make some art. Write a story, sing a song, do a video, start a blog. Just give us some of YOU.

— James Moran (@jamesmoran) December 31, 2012

 

Hunka’ Hunka’ Burning Inspiration

I spent today in Memphis, the home of Alex Grosjean (although technically, I discovered that she lives in East Memphis). I needed to get away from my computer and out of the house and as Memphis is the closest city, I hopped in my Nissan Rogue and drove the hour-and-a-half that it takes to get there. And I will admit that I was listening to and singing Christmas carols throughout the entire course of that drive.

I usually have to stop at Stuckey’s just outside of the city for a bathroom break. Lo and behold, though, these words of wisdom were awaiting me in the bathroom stall:

Indeed.

I love the holidays. There’s just something about them that makes me feel so sentimental. I ended up leaving much earlier than anticipated, so I stopped by Oak Court Mall to get a bra fitting at Victoria’s Secret. And although the size the sales woman came up for me was what I already had, their bras in that size all proved to be too small in the cup. But we eventually found a style and a size that worked for me. Men have no idea how difficult bra and jeans shopping is for us women! A huge thank you to Brittany at the store there for being extremely patient and helping me find exactly what I needed.

I roamed around the mall a little more, but as I had already spent more money than I had originally intended, I decided it was lunchtime. I found this place on Yelp under “French” restaurants called River Oaks Restaurant. It seemed to have amazing reviews and the chef was actually born in France and has received a lot of awards, so I figured I’d give it a shot. So I joined the lunchtime crowd there and tried the daily special called the Chef’s TV dinner. It’s a tongue in cheek name for a four-course pre-fixe meal. So very francais, non? As I love trying new things, I went for it.

All four courses are served on one large sectioned plate, similar to a t.v. dinner. The first item I ate was a sweet potato latke with mushrooms. Okay, I normally HATE mushrooms, but these weren’t the slimy ones I’m used to seeing. These were like the mushrooms I ate in France (where I discovered that not all mushrooms are evil) – sort of crunchy. They had been appropriately spiced and went amazingly well with the sweet potato latke. Another funny thing? I don’t like sweet potatoes, but this latke was DELICIOUS. I ate the whole thing.

Next up was the beet salad. I didn’t know I liked beets, but I guess I do, because it was really good. I followed that with a baked sea bass, my absolute favorite fish. It definitely had fleur de sel on it, but also a creamy buttery sauce that wasn’t too heavy. It was the best piece of fish I’ve had since Paris.

Dessert was key lime pie. REAL key lime pie and not that stuff made with just lime juice. And it was amazing.

I paired this all with a glass of Sauvignon Blanc. Meanwhile, people are looking at me like I’m some sort of alcoholic, because I dare do the French thing and have wine at *gasp* lunchtime. Meanwhile, they’re all missing out with their sweet tea (yuck). Americans. Bah, right?

I ordered coffee to finish, as if I were in Paris and took a million notes about the restaurant itself. I’m pretty sure I’ve found my Cafe Fortuna (read Zeus, Inc.).

I also took notes about various buildings in the area and figured out that Olympic City is where East Memphis currently is. And some of these wonderful art deco buildings in the area are just going to have to stay, even 50 years into the future, where my novels are set.

I was rather disappointed to see the Bookstar building is now a Japanese restaurant. So help me, if they have ruined those beautiful 1950′s pink bathrooms, heads will roll!

But I digress. I met up with a friend and we went to the Dixon Gallery & Gardens. It’s a lovely museum (with English-style gardens) that has a few impressionist pieces and currently has a nice exhibit on porcelain figurines. It’s quite lovely – I can only imagine how beautiful the gardens are in the spring, but here’s what they looked like today.

Still quite lovely, no?

And since the day was still young, we went to the Brooks Museum to see the Tiffany exhibit there. I’ve already chosen all of the decorative glass that I’m going to use in my castle, when I buy it.

On the way to the Brooks, I stopped and picked up some cupcakes from Gigi’s Cupcakes. These are the crack of cupcakes, they came from cupcake heaven and I think God himself created each flavor. No, really, they’re that good. I’m savoring the anticipation, though, and have not opened the box yet:

It’s taking a lot of willpower, though… There’s a Rocky Road cupcake in there and a Nutella cupcake. Guess which one I’ll dig into first?

Anyway, if you’ve read Zeus, Inc., you’ll know there’s a mention of cupcakes in the book. Gigi’s inspired those.

On the way home, I picked up some Zaxby’s. And now my stomach doth protest. But it still tasted pretty darn good.

Win 19 e-books, including Zeus, Inc. with Literary Plus

How about yet another giveaway where you could win a copy of Zeus, Inc.? Did you say yes? Well, Literary Plus (a wonderful writing-based initiative at Google+) is giving away 19 free e-books just in time for the holidays. And yes, one of those books is Zeus, Inc.

So how can you enter? Go here and sign up. All you have to do is tell them why you love indie authors in the comments. A random commenter will be chosen to win all 19 e-books.

Good luck!

Zeus, Inc. Part of “Winner Takes All” Giveaway

I’ve included my work into the “Winner Takes All” giveaway being hosted at RainyoftheDark. Fourteen ebooks, one winner. Ends December 31st. Easy entries! Check it out here.

Winning at NaNoWriMo and Giving to NaNoWriMo

Lookie! It seems I have officially won my second National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo). But 50,000 words is obviously not enough to tell the story of The Curse of Hekate. I’m going to spend part of December finishing it off and then I’m going to take some well-earned holiday time off to think about what happens next: re-writing.

Personally, I find the re-writing process much more difficult than the first draft. The first draft is just about getting ideas and words down into writing, but the re-writing is about sculpting the story into what it will become and usually takes a few g0-rounds to get exactly right. It’s where the heart of writing, I believe, lies and I both love and dread it at the same time.

The Curse of Hekate, though, will be a suitable sequel to Zeus, Inc. – of that I am certain. It’s an action-packed jet-setting thrill ride. Also, for those who have read Zeus, Inc. and wanted to see more of Harry, you’ll be happy that he’s a large part of the sequel. I’ve sort of fallen in love with the character, but maybe that’s because he resembles David Tennant in my head (who I also have an amazingly huge crush on).

But I digress, I wanted to talk a bit more about NaNoWriMo. The organization behind it has not met their funding this year. And I’m trying to encourage everyone to give to this wonderful cause. It not only helps writers like me finally get their stories down on to paper (or digital ink, in my case), but it also helps kids who want to become writers, as well. It is a wonderful cause and if you’re a writer or even just a reader, you should consider donating. You can do so here.

Black Friday Weekend Giveaway Contest Winner

First, I would like to thank everyone who took advantage of the $0.99 sale of Zeus, Inc. on Amazon.com this weekend. I hope that you enjoy the book and after you’ve finished reading it, please be kind enough to leave a review.

Secondly, I would like to congratulate the contest winner: Mandy – your $25 Amazon gift card is in your email! Enjoy and please feel free to buy a lot more books.

Thirdly, a thank you to everyone who participated in the contest. I was thrilled to have so many interested in being a part of my promotion.

Finally, Zeus, Inc. is getting a sequel! Well, apparently, I’ve already written about that here, but I’m almost towards the end of the first draft of the The Curse of Hekate. I can’t wait for you all to read it. But of course, there’s some re-writing and editing and tweaking that will need to be done first. I hope to have it out there sometime in the middle of 2013. The story is coming along nicely and has even more action than the first! I also know what the cover is going to look like and will unveil that soon.

Black Friday Weekend: Win a $25 Amazon Gift Card

So it’s Black Friday and instead of shopping, I wanted to offer a promotion myself. For a limited time (as in through the weekend), Zeus, Inc. will be available on Amazon.com for just 99 cents. That’s right, 99 cents!

But wait, there’s more!  How would you like to win a $25 gift card for Amazon.com? That could buy a few books, right? So how can you win? Well, it’s pretty straightforward:

Purchase your copy of Zeus, Inc. for just 99 cents.
Enter the Rafflecopter Contest below.

Good luck! Winners will be announced Tuesday.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Do You NaNoWriMo? Here are a Few Tips.

If you have been following me on Twitter or Google+, you’ll see I’m talking a lot about National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo). I am participating this year, for the second time, and have found it one of the best tools to jump start my writing. And as I believe I previously mentioned, I’m working on the sequel to Zeus, Inc., to be titled The Curse of Hekate.

Someone asked me for my best NaNoWriMo tips a few days ago and I thought I’d post some of what works for me here:

1. Make time to write. I set an appointment every day at 1 p.m. and I stick to it. Life gets too busy not to do this. Otherwise, you’ll never get a word down on the page. If I have to miss my appointment, I reschedule it for another time that day. And explain to those people around you that your writing time is not negotiable.

2. Set daily goals. Since NaNoWriMo is based on word count, I make a goal every day of 2,000 words. I do not stop writing until I have reached or exceeded that.

3. Ignore your inner critic. NaNoWriMo is not about writing the best novel ever to be published. It’s about getting ideas out of your head and into writing. And that’s all you should focus on. Don’t worry about if anything works or not or if it’s any good, just write.

4. Just let it flow. Even if you have an outline to work from, just let the words flow. When I was in high school, one of my teachers taught me about stream of consciousness writing. I have found that extremely helpful during NaNoWriMo.

5. If you get stuck, just keep on writing. What happens next could turn out to be utter crap or it could be the best scene in your novel. Just don’t stop writing. My favorite scene in Zeus, Inc. was a result of this tip.

6. Follow @nanowordsprints on Twitter. I don’t usually sprint with this Twitter account, but the random prompts have been helpful to me when I want to add new details into what I’m working on. In fact, I used some of the prompts during the re-writing of Zeus, Inc. just to give the book a bit more detail.

7. If you have an outline, be prepared for the story to go outside of that. This just happened to me today, but it actually will make for a better story. Just go with the flow of whatever comes out of your pen (or fingers).

I hope these tips help you through this month as you write frantically for that Winner badge. You can do it!

Digital Autographs via Authorgraph are now available

Who says a self-published digital-only author cannot sign a book? I certainly don’t! And in fact, you can now get a digital autograph for your copy of Zeus, Inc. right now on Authorgraph.

Just click here to request your Authorgraph.

Personally, I think this is a brilliant idea! Just request an authorgraph from me and I’ll get it to you asap.

Great Review on Reese’s Reviews

It’s so nice to wake up on your birthday and read a great review of your book. A big thank you to Reese for reading through Zeus, Inc., and for her great comments. I loved what she said about Alex (it was so important to me that she be real with flaws and insecurities). Read the full review here.